‘Superman’ returns: Christopher Reeve statue will be on display at Hero Complex Film Festival

June 05, 2011 | 1:41 p.m.

Detail of Mike Hill's statue of Christopher Reeve (Mike Hill)

Fans at the Hero Complex Film Festival will be able to take a photo with a life-size — and lifelike — statue of Hollywood’s most heroic Superman.

The amazing statue is the work of British sculptor and artist Mike Hill, who is building an international reputation as a master in his field. He has worked frequently with horror film icons as his subjects but in creating this caped tribute to the late, great Christopher Reeve, Hill tapped into something more sentimental from his own past.

“I made this piece to remind me of my youth,” the 42-year-old sculptor said. “As adults we forget the magic moments that forged our childhood dreams. For me ‘Superman’ still ignites that little boy who couldn’t afford popcorn watching an uplifting and incredibly exciting superhero save the planet. I believed a man could fly … and I still do.”

The statue is a bit startling to behold and its creation was a complicated one. “This figure was sculpted in clay from various stills of Mr. Reeve,” Hill said. “The sculpture was then reproduced in silicone rubber and fiberglass. The skin is painted in layers to reflect human skin tones. The acrylic eyes are custom made to match Reeves’ own. Each hair is punched [into place] one at a time. The costume is an exact replica of the original.”

Reeve died in 2004 at age 52 and the legacy of his work in film, television and the stage is matched by his inspirational accomplishments as an author, fundraiser and activist following his grievous spinal cord injury in 1995. The statue will be on display Saturday and, beginning at 2:45 p.m., fans will be permitted to take photos.

“Superman” and “Superman II: The Donner Cut” will be screened beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Director Richard Donner will be interviewed on stage between those two films and is the guest of honor at this year’s festival. The Saturday program also features a one-hour signing session by Mike Mignola (the “Hellboy” creator who designed this year’s festival poster) at 2:45 p.m. and a special appearance by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, who will talk publicly for the first time about major new changes in the DC Universe. The Saturday ticket for access to all of those events is $45.

The purchase of a Sunday ticket is now also the only way to get a seat in that day’s sold-out noon screening of “The Incredibles,” which will be followed by a special sneak preview of footage from “Cars 2.” Buy tickets for any of the four days right here.

This is a follow up to my last post. Hill is an arrogant artist who thinks he's the greatest. I know this personally because I was at one time in contact with him and gave him a suggestion to make another statue of Reeve from Superman 2 when Reeve was a little heavier and looked better as Superman. But apparently, Hill is not one to take suggestions. And fired back at me with insults and in turn I told him what I really thought of his terrible attempt to capture the likeness of Christopher Reeve and what I said to him was what I wrote in my first post in Hero Complex.